Del Dental GroupAppointments: (310) 822-8118

Julia Fattahi D.D.S.

Del Dental Group

Del Dental Group is a trusted Playa Del Rey area dental implants practice providing natural-looking, comfortable tooth replacement. We make it our mission to use a gentle touch during the process.

We hold ourselves to the highest standards to replace missing teeth and provide you with natural-looking results. Our goal is to restore your confidence and your bright, healthy smile.

Del Dental Group practices the highest infection control standards to protect our patients and ourselves. In the Playa Del Rey, CA area, Dr. Julia Fattahi and her staff strictly observe all Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines. All instruments are cleaned, disinfected and routinely sterilized as recommended by the American Dental Association and the Centers for Disease Control. Whenever possible, disposable, single-use items are used to ensure your safety.

Julia Fattahi, D.D.S. is proud to be a trusted Playa Del Rey area Zoom!® teeth whitening dentist. Our patients love the short amount of time the tooth whitening treatment takes as much as they love the results.

You'll be able to relax in our comfortable surroundings. In just about an hour, you'll have a sparkling white smile!

Would you like your smile to be a bit brighter than it is right now? We can make it happen at Del Dental Group, with professional tooth whitening for brighter natural looking teeth. Dr. Julia Fattahi's Playa Del Rey, CA area office can effectively lighten your stained or discolored tooth enamel. Whiter teeth not only look great, they improve your self-confidence.

If you're interested in natural-looking bridges and dentures, look no further than Julia Fattahi, D.D.S. who practices in the Playa Del Rey, California area. Using modern materials and techniques, Dr. Fattahi can achieve the natural look you seek. You will be very pleased with the comfortable, long-lasting results.

Considering Porcelain Veneers?

Maybe you've thought about cosmetic dental work - but felt a little vain to consider it.

Or the appearance of your teeth never bothered you much, because your dental health is pretty good.

But fixing a small functional problem can sometimes yield wonderful, unanticipated dividends. Mary, for instance, had a few dental imperfections most of us could live with. But she was hampered from time to time by a lispy "s" sound.

Mary had gapped teeth, a diastema, which caused a slight but noticeable speech defect. She also showed evidence of life in the fast lane, too: teeth worn down, probably from nervous clenching of the jaw muscles or grinding teeth.

In Mary's case - and every case is different - porcelain veneers saved the day. Her cosmetic dentist began with a functional and esthetic evaluation to determine what shape and contour would best solve Mary's diastema problem. More tooth length was proposed, to give her a more youthful, proportioned appearance, too.

Impressions were taken, and sent off to the lab for fabrication. On the next visit, her teeth were cleaned and etched chemically, the dental veneers were cemented into place, and "cured" with a special light to seal them.

Mary's speech problem evaporated. Dentistry fixed that. But cosmetic dentistry did more than perfect her speech.

WHEN FUNCTION = BEAUTY

Like an acrylic fingernail, veneers cover the front surface of the teeth. Porcelain dental veneers are strong and, by the way, look great.

As an architect of more that 60 years, I have learned that only the beautiful is practical. And universally, anything that is truly practical, functional, and useful is beautiful.-Frank Lloyd Wright

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.

I Had a Root Canal and Now My Tooth Is Dark. How Can I Get My Bright Smile Back?

It is not uncommon for teeth to turn darker in color either before or after being treated with a root canal. Deposition of pigment within the tooth from the nerve, usually due to major trauma, can cause the tooth to turn either gray or brown. What happens is a reactive process causing calcification within the tooth can cause it to turn yellow. The treatment to regain your bright smile now depends on both the type and the severity of the color change.

Treatment Options

Internal Dental Bleaching

By far the easiest way to correct the color is by dental bleaching the tooth. The procedure for this is different than for conventional dental bleaching, where you are whitening all of your teeth.

The technique involves your dentist or endodontist placing a small amount of extremely strong dental bleaching material inside the tooth where the nerve was. It is placed through the small hole in your tooth through which the root canal was done. A temporary filling is then placed to seal in the tooth whitening material for three to four days.

The tooth will start to lighten almost immediately, and you will often see improvement on the night that it was placed. You will have to return to your dentist to have the dental bleaching material replaced because its effectiveness decreases over time. It usually takes two to three applications to regain your bright smile.

Once the tooth is lightened, a permanent filling will be placed. This procedure is very stable and it works best for teeth that have turned brown or gray. Even though the tooth color is lightened, it is difficult to obtain a perfect match with your other teeth.

Bright Smiles with Dental Veneers and Crowns

Another treatment option is to use a restoration to cover the tooth to mask the color change. The type of restoration needed will vary depending on how dark the tooth is and how much lighter it needs to be.

For teeth that are slightly to moderately dark, the best restoration is a porcelain veneer. Porcelain veneers are thin restorations that, when bonded to the tooth, can change both its shape and color.

Because of the thinness of the porcelain veneers, the color may show through the veneer if the tooth is too dark. Therefore, they are most successful for treating color changes that are not severe. For extremely dark teeth, a crown may be indicated to help mask the color.

It is important to note that although a crown or veneer may mask the darkness from the tooth, there may still be some darkness from the root that can show slightly through the gum tissue. The effect of this will vary depending on how dark the tooth is and the type of gum tissue.

A darker tooth with thinner gum tissue is more likely to have the dark color show through than a lighter tooth with thicker gum tissue. This darkness may not be a factor if the lip does not move up high enough to show the area at the gum line when smiling. If it does show and is an issue, the treatment will most likely need to include dental bleaching of the tooth, as previously discussed, with or without a restoration.

By Greggory Kinzer, DDS, MSD

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.